02.14.08

Olympia, Greece

Pink and Proud of it!

Before you even attempt to read this blog entry you have to read the entry of Corfu, Greece and here about Albania!

What a stay in Corfu!The Pink Palace was not only a palace, but I think I turned a little pink also during my 5 night stay in the budget resort.What a vacation!

I arrived to the Pink Palace in the dark and wondered to the counter to be greeted to a $25 Euro room by myself, breakfast and dinner included and towels!!Oh sweet towels!I unloaded my bags and dinner was on the table.It was amazing that dinner was included and not just any dinner, fish, potatoes, green beans, soup and a full greek salad!I could not believe it.And then when I awoke the next morning to my breakfast which I expected to be the usual hostel routine of bread and jam I was blown away when two eggs, bacon, toast, several different types of jams and tea where spread out for me.Unbelievable!Not only was it extremely budget, the food spectacularly good I did not have to decide anything.

The next several days would be spent just relaxing.There were four other guests at the hostel with me all Canadian, the bartender, Andy, Emma the reception staff, and Andreas our very young talented chef.Our communal dinners and breakfasts usually ended with a several hour long talk still sitting at the table.Meghan and Lauren two of the Canadian guests both 18 and inbetween college were great company and were a delight to converse with.Most meals where spent with them, then we would chat, take a nap and then back to eating again.

Andreas not only cooked extraordinary meals for us, but was a delight to chat with.From Albania he had been working at the Pink Palace for a while and was still only 18 himself.We all had great fun and it was such a treat to have good meals that I did not have to walk around for hours starving to find and then decide what it was that I would actually eat when I got to the place.You don't understand how great that is after months of having to do it.Lunches were not included, but 3.50 euros for a full lunch was pretty cheap.So basically, I did nothing, I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at the palace, walked the beach a little and took one afternoon bike ride around the island and into town to check things out.Thanks to some of the guests, I also got hooked on watching Greys Anatomy which usually consumed my before and after dinner hours.Yeah, actually I watched an entire season on DVD during my stay so I guess the pink rubbed off on me a little bit, but I am okay with it.

All good things have to come to an end sometime right.Well it was time to shove off, the girls were leaving also, so dinner was not going to be as much fun and I still needed to get my bike serviced at the BMW dealership in Patra which was a good days ride away still.So I packed up, said my goodbyes to the amazing staff at the Palace and headed to the ferry.

Every single day of my life I am continually amazed at how I am directed.It seemed that in the past it was only during those huge junctions in my life that I would look up and say okay what now, but this trip has definitely taught me that God is part of my life every single day, every hour walking forward with me.And even though I see this now every day I still get wowed!

So the whole thousand mile over my service thing, a hard ride and wreck in Albania was not sitting to well with me and I was still a little hesitant about my ride to Patra, but I started to head that way anyway until I was stopped dead in my tracks.Ferry strike!Now this was unexpected and it was only for one day, the day that I just so happened to want to leave.After checking out every possible option, even a private boat and a board to get my bike from the dock to the boat I headed back to the hostel with my tale between my legs.

As I was heading back, I noticed a bike dealership that also happened to be an Aprilla dealer which if you remember from my experience in Syracuas, Aprilla dealers also usually stock parts that work for my bike too.So even though the shop did not look like much I dropped in.Amazing, after a phone call from the owner of the shop a man shows up on a scooter, yells BMW to me and I nod and am directed to follow him down the road and around a couple corners.I pull up to what amounts to a small garage sort of workshop and am feeling a little hesitant as to whether I should go ahead with the service or not.Well, just one of those meant to be situations.The door is opened and all I see inside are the newest BMW's and he is working on them!I later found out that this guy was the best on the island and he dropped everything and started work on my bike.Not only did he do the service but he taught me how to do it all myself while we chatted about Greece.A friend who was an English teacher at the high school dropped in and joined in on our conversation.The next several hours we worked on the bike, I learned, they chatted and then finally it was all done.I pulled out my wallet waiting to hear the damage.We did a full service, replaced the rear wheel bearings, and installed a new back tire all of which except the bearings had been done on the last service in Barcelona where the billed turned out to be close to 700 euros.Well, 296 euros later,I was headed out the door with a practically brand new bike, the knowledge of how to do it myself next time and a great experience.UNBELIEVABLE!

Oh and it doesn't stop there, I found my way back to the hostel in time to stop the girls and warn them of the ferry situation and when I spoke to the receptionist I was informed that since I had stayed 4 nights already the 5th night was free!That means breakfast and dinner was free too!So because the ferry was on strike, I was able to get a complete service done on my bike with major savings, enjoy another great evening at the palace which was free and oh yeah I got to finish the last DVD of Greys!Oh and I think I squeezed a volleyball game in there somewhere with the new guests who checked in who also happened to be Canadian.What is up with these Canadians!

So what can I say, the Pink Palace was a good thing!

I headed out this morning and hopped on a ferry to the mainland and made my way down the coast.Even though being Pink for a couple of days was pretty amazing, it was really great to get back on the road again.My Ipod was shuffling my 2000 songs particularly well this day which is not usual and the sun was shining.Man I love Greece!Greece I think is definitely going to surprise me and I think may even bump Croatia out of number one.I have just begun, but it looks promising and the sunshine sure doesn't hurt.

I rode hard today since it has been a while and made it to Olympia a small village with lots of ruins and of course the birth place of the Olympics.Pretty cool!So stay tuned for another adventure!